Shannanigan's Search for More...

I've come to the sudden realization that we all have different capabilities and levels of stress that we can handle...and I think I overestimated myself when I registered for six courses this semester.

Now, this is actually kind of funny for me. A full load of courses here is 12 credits, which comes out to about four classes. I usually take 16 credits, which adds up to abour 5 classes and a PE, since I love to stay active.

This semester, I skipped the PE and instead took an additional 2-credit education course, so I'm taking 17 credits, and it is proving to be too much.

I'm a very good student; I don't doubt myself one bit. The friends I have that consistently take just 12 credits think I'm insane for always riding the line between "heavy load" and "overload," but for me, it just kept me working and interested...because I tend to learn quickly and if I only took 4 classes I'd probably kill myself with boredom. What made me take an additional class is the fact that I have other friends who consistently take 20...21...even 22 credits a semester, and they seem to do just fine.

"If they can do it, surely, I can do it," I thought. I mean, I am one smart cookie after all, right?

Apparently not smart enough, lol.

Actually, it's not a matter of being smart...it's a matter of having the stuffing needed to write papers nonstop, skipping meals and forgetting about a social life. It's about doing homework at work, in class, all night, all weekend, and even while at get-togethers. It's about reading more than you could ever possibly want to read in just 3 months, and somehow gaining enough from all that reading to trick your professor into thinking you've absorbed some of it.

For those of you who have not experienced biting off more than you can chew just yet: don't do it! Find your comfort zone...that course load that challenges you but doesn't keep throwing dirt on you as you try to dig your way out. Find that zone and stick to it...because it's so not worth chipping points off your GPA just to get more classes done in less time.

I mean, the whole point of college is to learn, right? It's not a race...how can you learn when you've got so much stuff trying to cram its way through the doorway to your brain that nothing can get in?